Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Plaid Craft TV: How to make a garden tool wind chime

In this episode of Plaid Craft TV we are transforming a plain wood bird house and some garden tools into a wind chime! Perfect for making some funky yard art! Our bonus idea is a sweet painted clay pot. (instructions for both are below) Steve and I were so thrilled to have fellow crafty friend, Stefanie Girard, joining us in the studio.

Steve and I met Stefanie years ago at a publishing event at CHA and although we get to play together, this was the first time we got to craft together. Stefanie is helping Steve with the chime and is making recycled sweater flowers from her book Sweater Surgery. Stefanie writes for many of my favorite crafty websites...craft gossip and craftside. She also invented this really cool binder for storing greeting cards. I was lucky enough to get a sample the other day...planning a post on that soon.

Kick back and enjoy the video! We made this one bright and cheery with bold colors.....but the same idea could be made rustic with crackle paint and worn out tools. Oh and we are using Outdoor Mod Podge...perfect for all weather projects.

To Make:
1. Screw 4 eye hooks into each corner on the base of the birdhouse and 1 eye hook into the top center of the roof.

2. Paint the roof Engine Red, the base of the house Lime Green and body of the house Baby Pink.

3. Using Lime Green paint and a detail brush, paint flower stems on the front of the house. Using Mod Podge Outdoor, apply paper-punched flowers to the tops of the stems.

4. Trim the scrapbook paper to fit around the handles of the shovels. Coat the back of the paper with Mod Podge Outdoor, wrap the paper around the handles, smooth the paper with your fingers and topcoat with a layer of Mod Podge.

To Make:
1. Paint the base of a cleaned clay pot Whicker White. Dip the 1” brush into Baby Pink paint and paint stripes down the sides of the pot. (leave a white spot for painting the bird) Paint the rim of the pot with Burnt Umber.

2. To make the bird, pant a simple bird body in the white section. Use a detail paintbrush to paint a wing, feet and a beak in Burnt Umber. Us the same brush to paint an outline around the design.